READ: Jonah, Chapter 1
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”
Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)
The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”
“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
DEVOTIONAL
“I can’t hear you!”, kids often say as they plug their ears in defiance of something they don’t want to hear. But let's be honest, as adults, we do the same thing—especially when it comes to God’s voice. In Jonah Chapter 1, God calls Jonah to preach to Nineveh, in the heart of Assyria (modern-day Iraq). As a prophet, it was Jonah’s job to declare God’s word over the people. But Jonah doesn’t like his assignment. Instead, he flees to Tarshish, a location potentially in Spain in the Mediterranean near Italy—the opposite direction. Who wouldn’t want a vacation to Spain? Not to mention, Ninevites were known to be brutal. They would kill, bury, and skin their enemies, and leave them on the side of the road to intimidate anyone that might threaten them.
Jonah pays the fare and boards a ship for Tarshish. But this trip cost him a lot more than what he intended to pay. Any time God speaks, there's always going to be a boat ready to take you in the opposite direction of God's purpose. But going in the opposite direction of God's call is costly—it takes us places we never wanted to go. Next time we are tempted to plug our ears and say “I can’t hear you” to God, we need to remember that there’s always a price to pushing mute on the Holy Spirit.
PRAYER:
God, please help me to be sensitive to your voice. Give me the strength to obey your Word and do what you call me to do. Help me to obey without delay. Help me to trust your plan for my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.